3 articles

Currency & payments.

Reference rates, card rates, dynamic currency conversion and foreign transaction fees, with the arithmetic to compare them.

Pay in local currency or home currency: how DCC markups work

A JPY 20,000 bill is 130.00 USD at an illustrative reference rate of 0.0065, but 136.00 USD under the offered home-currency rate of 0.0068. That 4.6% markup is larger than the 3% card fee used in the example.

5 min read

Foreign transaction fees explained, including on refunds

On a 600 purchase with an example 3% fee, the fee is 18.00. If a later refund credits 2% less because the foreign currency fell, that costs another 12.00, so the net cost is 30.00 unless the fee is refunded too.

5 min read

Reference rate vs card rate: what you actually pay abroad

A reference rate is a benchmark, not the rate on your statement. In the illustrative example, a JPY 50,000 price is 325.00 USD at the reference rate and 339.90 USD after a slightly higher card rate and a 3% fee.

4 min read

Tools for this topic.

Currency & card-fee checkConvert with dated reference rates, then add a card fee or compare a dynamic currency conversion offer.